Cajun

The Cajuns are an ethnic group consisting essentially of the descendants of Acadians who came from Nova Scotia to Louisiana as a result of their refusal to swear allegiance to the British Crown. The word "Cajun" is an Anglophone corruption of the French pronunciation of the word acadien, after Acadia, the name of their ancestral region in Nova Scotia; the name "Cajun" was applied to them by English-speaking colonists when they settled in Louisiana.

Classification

The Cajuns as a distinct ethnic group

It is relatively uncontroversial to consider the Cajuns a distinct ethnic group. The distinction between the Cajuns and other people in and around Louisiana is generally agreed to by both the Cajuns themselves and others. Their descent from displaced Acadians, their retention in significant measure of a unique form of the French language, and numerous distinct cultural customs distinguish them as an ethnic group. Many (though by no means all) Cajuns live in communities relatively separate from other Louisianans.

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As with most other contemporary Americans, many Cajuns are assimilated into the wider society and live more in a contemporary American culture than in a distinctly Cajun culture. As with most contemporary Americans of European ancestry, individual Cajuns are generally free either to embrace their specific ethnic identity or to be seen as undifferentiated "white Americans."

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